I recently attended a meeting sponsored by our local legislators.
Many of our local teachers and college people expressed their wish for a pay raise as they hadn’t had one for years, which is true.
I suggested several ways Sen. Joe Fain could save millions of dollars to the welfare system. My suggestions were of no interest to him. His statements showed his intent was to build a bigger welfare system and make sure it was funded. He wasn’t interested in any changes, which would save taxpayers millions of dollars. The crowd applauded his statements.
These are the same people who, for at least two hours, had been complaining about not getting pay raises. Though they support large welfare systems, they cannot figure out why there is no money left for state employees’ pay raises.
One example: According to Michael Marchand of the Washington Health Exchange, the state has added more than 500,000 people to its Medicaid program in the last year and a half.
Another example: The state has spent several years and more than $20 million implementing Obamacare, and this legislative session plans to spend between $89 and $127 million of our tax dollars to fund it.
You may notice none of our legislators have discussed the growing cost of the state’s welfare program.
– Gene Bremner
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